Police still probe Lebanon home invasion, shooting

Thursday

Jan 10, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Samantha Allensallen@fosters.com

LEBANON, Maine — On the second day of an investigation regarding the shooting of a man during what is being called a home invasion at his 2nd Street home, Maine State Police say they are still trying to tie up “loose ends” and piece together exactly what happened.

Spokesman for the Maine Police Department Steve McCausland said the victim, Richard Potorski, 41, is the homeowner of the 11 2nd St. property. Lt. Brian McDonough said upon returning to his empty house for a lunch break early Tuesday afternoon, Potorski was surprised by a man in his home with a gun.

McCausland said it is still unclear what happened inside the home next but Potorski was shot in the shoulder and suffered a serious gunshot wound. Police said his wife found him in the home and placed an emergency call around 1:30 p.m. where the victim was then flown by helicopter to Maine Medical Center with assistance from the Lebanon Rescue Department.

“(Potorski) is expected to live,” McCausland said. “…We’ve conducted some interviews but an interview with the homeowner is key here and we haven’t been able to talk with him directly.”

McCausland noted a black SUV recovered behind the Big Lots retail store in Rochester later Tuesday afternoon is owned by Potorski. Authorities revealed Wednesday they set up a crime scene in that area because they believed the gunman shot Potorski, then stole his vehicle and used it as a getaway car. McCausland said Rochester police were notified Tuesday afternoon when a Big Lots employee called to report a suspicious vehicle was abandoned on their loading dock.

The area in the Lilac City was roped off with crime scene tape around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as Rochester police looked through the back of the business plaza for evidence with assistance from a Portsmouth Police Department K9 unit. McCausland said the vehicle was returned to the Maine State Police Department for further processing, and noted the York County Sheriff’s Office is assisting in the case along with the Rochester Police Department. Officials were spotted removing evidence from the 2nd Street home later on Tuesday as well.

“At this point we’re still trying to determine the sequence of events of what happened inside that home on Tuesday,” he said. “…We worked late into the night and are continuing to investigate this.”

McDonough said the next steps in the investigation will involve a “victimology” study, where officials will interview Potorski’s friends, family members and co-workers to determine why he was targeted in this crime. McDonough added it unknown at this time if Potorski knew the gunman — he explained Potorski is still hospitalized and sedated. Officials have been receiving limited “third-hand information” from the victim, McDonough said

“We’re hoping to speak with him with thin the next one to three days,” he added. “I think what we need to do at this point is really focus on the victimology and meet with Mr. Potorski’s family, relatives, friends and associates, his work associates, and see if we can come up with specific reasons why they may have been targeted in this either burglary that went bad or home invasion … We’ve taken a bunch of evidence we’ll process at the lab. We’ll get the victimology done and then start working the intelligence aspect of all of this and see what we come up with.”

“(You investigate) why individuals become a victim of that crime and you do a study of what (the victims) do for work, who they associate with, what their habits may be, what their relationship may be with friends and family and associates and see if that can shed any light on who would have had a motive to do this,” McDonough explained.